Alok Chaube

Importance of Jatropha curcas for Indian Economy

For meeting the growing demand for energy, the Planning Commission of India has identified the promotion of Jatropha curcas L. (Jatropha), a non-edible oilseed, to produce biodiesel, a substitute of fossil diesel. The report below highlights the importance of Jatropha for Indian economy with a long term view. Economics of Jatropha biodiesel production is compared with that of fossil diesel. Jatropha seed procurement cost is the most critical component of Jatropha biodiesel accounting. The perspective of green house gas (GHGs) mitigation and the possibility of earning certified emission reductions (CERs) may provide some additional reasons for pushing biofuels as a sustainable energy option. Providing marginal land for its production appears a big constraint. To reduce the impact of highly volatile crude oil pricing on Indian economy, promotion of renewable bio-energy options needs to be integrated with employment in the context of a social frame.

Post Copenhagen Summit Scenario: Attainment of Sustainable Energy Regime in India by Jatropha Biodiesel

India has set a GDP growth target of 8–9% in order to transform itself from a developing into a developed world. This level of growth will most likely lead to an increased demand on crude oil imports. It is expected that India will need to increase its imports from 80% to around 90% by 2020 to meet its targeted growth objectives. High crude oil imports make Indian economy vulnerable to volatility in crude oil prices. Another key concern associated with increased crude oil demand is the increase in the green house gases (GHGs) emissions and its negative impact on the climate. At the Copenhagen Summit, participating nations have failed to reach a legally binding agreement. However, India has declared that even with its social and economic development it will not allow per capita GHGs emissions to be more than that of the developed countries (most probably Annex I non-economies in transition countries representing industrialized nations). Jatropha biodiesel is an alternative fuel that can be a potential source of energy for rural and remote areas in India. It can also be viable replacement for diesel, the largest consumed fossil fuel in India. Indias National Biofuel Policy targets 20% blending of Jatropha based biodiesel with fossil-fuel based diesel by 2017. There are other significant benefits of Jatropha afforestation apart from the reduction of GHGs such as employment generation, waste land reclamation and additional earnings under clean development mechanism (CDM). Major constraints in meeting National Biofuel Policy targets are land availability without threatening food security and its cost competitiveness as compared to the fossil fuels. The objective of this study is to draw attention on the possible use of Jatropha biodiesel for attaining a sustainable energy regime in post Copenhagen Summit scenario.

Mitigation of green house gases emission and energy consumption for transport sector: a fuzzy-AHP approach

The green house gas emission has sharply increased in the past several decades from transport sector. The policy options in transportation sector primarily focus on the reduction of green house gas emission through the reduction of underlying activity (i.e., travel). Several transportation sector policies have been proposed in the literature. In order to examine relative importance of these policies, a fuzzy-AHP approach has been used. This facilitates the choice of viable policies to mitigate green house gas emission from the transport sector. The analysis indicated that the policy applying an integrated model of transport planning and land use pattern change is the policy of prime importance. Further there is an exigency for development of advanced information technology for transport sector in the present scenario.

Evaluating Emission Mitigation Strategies for Sustainable Transportation System: A System Dynamics Approach

The sustainable development of urban transportation system demands a trade-off between economic, social, demographic, geographic, and political concerns. To address these concerns there is a need of induction of viable transportation policies. In order to examine, the effect of these policies, a system dynamics modelling framework has been presented. A simulation model has been developed to analyse the emission reduction policies. The proposed model integrates the induced travel demand in its structure in order to incorporate dynamic response of transport users. Finally, the impact of different polices like providing separate pedestrian lanes, increase in vehicle occupancy, application of telecommuting and land use pattern change in terms of vehicle emission has been assessed. The results are compared with the case when the impact of induced travel demand is not considered. It is concluded that the dynamic analysis gives a realistic assessment of emission reduction policies.